546 ACKOCEPHALUS DUMETOKUM. 



far as Ceylon is concerned) is a cool-season visitant to the island, arriving usually in October, but some 

 seasons not appearing about Colombo until the beginning of November. It is found throughout the entire 

 low country, being very numerous in the north and in all the west of the island. It inhabits the Jaffna 

 peninsula and adjacent islands, as well as Manaar, in great numbers, and about Colombo it is very common. 

 In the Central Province it ranges up to 4500 feet, at which height I have seen it at Catton, in Haputale, inha- 

 biting there patnas and coffee-estates ; above 2500 feet it is not very frequent in any part but Uva ; but lower 

 than this, in Dumbara and portions of the western districts of similar altitude to that valley, it is almost as 

 common as in the low country. Its time of departure varies according to season ; during some years I have 

 seen it at Colombo as late as the 15th of April; but I should say all leave the island, at the latest, before the 

 25th of that month. Mr. Hume remarks that they leave the plains of India after the end of March; but I 

 conclude that they remain somewhat later than this in some parts ; in fact Captain Butler says it does not quit 

 the Mt. Aboo and Deesa districts until the middle of April. 



In the cool season (namely, from September until April) it is found throughout India, more or less, inha- 

 biting such districts as are suitable to its habits. Jerdon writes that it is found in the Nilghiris and on the 

 west coast, and also in the Carnatic, Central India, and Bengal ; it likewise, he says, extends into Assam ; but 

 it does not migrate southwards into Burmah, if we may take the experience of naturalists who have lately 

 collected there. It breeds in the Himalayas and Cashmere, whither it retires after its season's residence in 

 more southerly latitudes, and inhabits these hills to an altitude of 7000 feet. In some parts of the north- 

 west it is plentiful, as in Kattiawar ; in others it is rare, as in the Sambhur-lake district and in Sindh, from 

 which latter place it has only lately been recorded by Mr. Blanford. In Chota Nagpur it is local, for Mr. Ball 

 has only obtained it in Sirguja. About Calcutta he speaks of it as common, although Blyth wrote, many 

 years ago, that it never was to be seen about the marshy salt lakes of that neighbourhood, among which the 

 last species is common. Severtzoff found it in Turkestan ; but it does not seem to range to the eastward of 

 that region, as Prjevalsky did not meet with it in Thibet or Mongolia. 



Habits. — Blvth's Warbler frequents low and thick bushes, detached thickets, and bushy trees, even in the 

 most public places, but never betakes itself (in Ceylon) to reeds or sedgy spots, although I have noticed it 

 sometimes in clumps of bamboos overhanging streams. When it first arrives it takes up its quarters in some 

 thickly-foliaged tree or dense bush, and there remains throughout most of the season ; and so regular is it in 

 its habits, that I have perceived it for weeks from my windows, sallying out of the same tree to another close 

 by, about the same hour every morning. It feeds on insects, which it procures among the branches and leaves 

 "I' trees, attentively searching for them, and leisurely hopping about from twig to twig, now and then jerking 

 out a sudden "chik," reminding one of the note of the " Whitethroat " in our hedges at home. It remains 

 almost perpetually concealed from view, showing itself, when it does emerge from its stronghold, for a very 

 short time. It commences to warble slightly in March ; and on one or two occasions I have seen it perched on 

 the top of a bushy Suriah-tree in the Fort at Colombo, endeavouring to utter its love-notes, perhaps prepa- 

 ratory to winging its way, in a few days, to far more temperate climes, where they develop into a fine and 

 vigorous song. 



In India it seems to avoid reeds, in the same manner as in Ceylon. Blyth writes that it comes a good 

 deal into gardens, frequenting pea-rows and the like. Mr. Adam noticed it hunting for insects among reeds, 

 and says that after each hunt it perched well up on a reed and uttered its peculiar loud call. 



Nidification. — This species breeds, as far as is known, not further south than the Himalayas. There, 

 according to Indian observers, it nests along the banks of streams or in thick bushes near water, building, as 

 noticed by Captain Hutton, a globular nest of coarse dry grasses, lined with finer grass. The eggs are 



described by Mr. Hume as " broad ovals, smooth and compact in texture, with little or no gloss ; they 



are pure white, very thinly speckled with reddish and yellowish brown, the markings being most numerous 

 towards the larger end." Dimensions 0-62 by 05 inch. 



Since the publication of Mr. Hume's ' Nests and Eggs ' in 1873, the late Mr. A. Anderson found this 

 Warbler breeding in Upper Kumaon at elevations from 3000 to 0000 feet; his experience corroborates that of 



